Moscow, December 26, 2024 – The Europe Today: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated that Ukraine lacks the capability to independently develop nuclear weapons and could only achieve this with assistance from Western countries.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, Zakharova addressed statements by Western officials and media regarding Ukraine’s potential nuclear deterrent.
“The Kiev regime can’t create nuclear weapons in a few weeks on its own. This is a fact,” she emphasized. Zakharova further added that Ukraine’s only path to nuclear armament would be through receiving critical components from other nations. She criticized Ukraine’s focus, saying, “Ukraine should sort out the heating season rather than seek nuclear weapons.”
Ukraine has frequently claimed that it relinquished nuclear weapons in 1994 under the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for security assurances from Russia and the United States. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accused Russia of violating the agreement, arguing that this breach grants Ukraine the right to acquire nuclear weapons.
However, Moscow insists that Ukraine never possessed nuclear weapons of its own, asserting that the assets in question were legally part of the Soviet Union and thus belonged to Russia. President Vladimir Putin has also accused the United States of undermining the 1994 agreement by supporting the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev.
Speculation over Ukraine’s nuclear ambitions resurfaced earlier this year. In October, German newspaper Bild quoted an unnamed Ukrainian official who claimed that Ukraine could quickly develop nuclear capabilities if instructed. However, Kiev dismissed these allegations, calling them “nonsense” and accusing the publication of spreading “Russian propaganda.”
Recent reports by the Washington Post suggested that US officials were considering allowing Ukraine to regain nuclear weapons, a claim denied by President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
